Dog bites in a US county: age, body part, and breed in pediatric dog bites.

Dog bites in a US county: age, body part, and breed in pediatric dog bites.

Acta Paediatr. 2018 Jan 13;:

Authors: Ramgopal S, Brungo LB, Bykowski M, Pitetti R, Hickey R

Abstract
AIM: To compare characteristics of gender, age, body part, and breed in dog bites.
METHODS: We reviewed 14,956 dog bites (4,195 pediatric) reported to the Allegehny County Health Department, USA, between 2007-2015. Using pre-defined age groups, we performed linear regression to assess for subject age and bite frequency and used binary logistic regression to evaluate for differences in gender and body part and chi-squared tests with Bonferroni correction to evaluate for differences in reported breeds with age.
RESULTS: There was a negative correlation (-0.80, r2=0.64) between age and bite frequency. Children 0-3 years had a higher odds ratio (OR) of bites to the face (21.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] 17.61-25.33) and a lower OR of bites to the upper (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.12-0.18) and lower (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.14-0.27) extremities. "Pit bulls" accounted for 27.2% of dog bites and were more common in children 13-18 years (p<0.01). Shih-Tzu bites were more common in children three years of age and younger (p<0.01).
CONCLUSION: Dog bites occur with higher frequency at younger ages, and head and neck injuries are more common in younger children. Pit bull bites are more common in adolescents and Shih-Tzu bites more common in younger children. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID: 29331048 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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